Vehicle hatch clearance determining system

ABSTRACT

A vehicle hatch clearance determining system includes a plurality of cameras disposed at the vehicle and a control having a processor for processing image data captured by the cameras to determine structure and objects present in the fields of view of the cameras while the vehicle is being driven during a parking event. The control, responsive to processing of captured image data, determines and stores information pertaining to structure and objects present in the fields of view of the cameras during the parking event. When the vehicle is parked, the control determines if stored information includes structure or an object at or near the parking location and in a region that may be swept by the vehicle hatch when it is opened or closed. Responsive to determination of a potential collision of the hatch with structure or an object, the clearance determining system controls the hatch and/or generates an alert.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the filing benefits of U.S. provisionalapplication Ser. No. 62/486,662, filed Apr. 18, 2017, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to imaging systems or vision systems forvehicles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Use of imaging sensors in vehicle imaging systems is common and known.Examples of such known systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,949,331; 5,670,935 and/or 5,550,677, which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a vision system or imaging system for avehicle that utilizes one or more cameras to capture images exterior ofthe vehicle, and provides the communication/data signals, includingcamera data or image data that may be displayed or processed to providethe desired display images and/or processing and control, depending onthe particular application of the camera and vision or imaging system.The present invention utilizes such a vehicle camera or sensor todetermine structure at and around the vehicle, such as while the vehicleis being driven in a parking structure, and stores the data so that,when the vehicle is parked at a parking space, the system has storeddata pertaining to the structure at or near or above the vehicle. Thevehicle includes a vehicle hatch control system or clearance determiningsystem that may detect or determine that an object or structure ispresent in the sweeping or turning area or path of a vehicle hatch (suchas a vehicle hatch that is being opened or closed, such as via a poweredopening/closing system of the vehicle) and, responsive to suchdetermination, the system may stop or reverse the hatch to limit oravoid collision of the hatch with the object present in its path. Thesystem utilizes the stored data to determine objects or structure thatmay be above the vehicle and out of the field of view of the camera ofthe vehicle when the vehicle is parked, and thus provides enhancedcontrol of the hatch when the vehicle is parked.

These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of thepresent invention will become apparent upon review of the followingspecification in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a vehicle with a vision system and imagingsensors or cameras that provide exterior fields of view in accordancewith the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a side view of a vehicle with a rear camera of a hatchclearance determining system mounted at the emblem position of the hatchand providing an exterior field of view in accordance with the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A driver assist system and/or vision system and/or object detectionsystem and/or alert system may operate to capture images exterior of thevehicle and process the captured image data to detect objects at or nearthe vehicle and in the predicted path of the vehicle, such as to assista driver of the vehicle in maneuvering the vehicle in a rearwarddirection. The object detection may utilize detection and analysis ofmoving vectors representative of objects detected in the field of viewof the vehicle camera, in order to determine which detected objects areobjects of interest to the driver of the vehicle, such as when thedriver of the vehicle undertakes a reversing maneuver or opens thetailgate or rear door of the vehicle.

Referring now to the drawings and the illustrative embodiments depictedtherein, a vehicle 10 includes an imaging system or vision system 12that includes one or more imaging sensors or cameras (such as a rearwardviewing imaging sensor or camera 14 a and/or a forward viewing camera 14b at the front (or at the windshield) of the vehicle, and/or asideward/rearward viewing camera 14 c, 14 b at the sides of thevehicle), which capture images exterior of the vehicle, with the camerashaving a lens for focusing images at or onto an imaging array or imagingplane of the camera (FIG. 1). The vision system 12 is operable toprocess image data captured by the cameras and may provide displayedimages at a display device 16 for viewing by the driver of the vehicle.Optionally, the vision system may process image data to detect objects,such as objects to the rear of the subject or equipped vehicle during areversing maneuver, or such as approaching or following vehicles orvehicles at a side lane adjacent to the subject or equipped vehicle orthe like.

The present invention provides a hatch control system or hatch collisionavoidance system or hatch clearance determining system for a vehiclethat is operable to stop the opening or closing of a hatch or trunk lidor lift gate or deck lid or rear door of a vehicle when it is determinedthat an object is in the path of travel of the hatch and will becontacted or impacted by the hatch if the hatch continues towards itsfully opened or fully closed position. For example, the system,responsive to a determination that an object or structure is outside ofthe vehicle and above or rearward of the hatch and in the path of travelof the hatch when opening (and with the system optionally monitoring thepath of travel responsive to an opening of the hatch or activation of apowered hatch opening/closing device or the like), is operable to stopmovement or opening of the hatch at a predetermined or selected orappropriate distance from the object such that a gap is provided betweenthe stopped partially opened hatch and the detected object. The systemmay utilize aspects of the systems described in U.S. Publication Nos.US-2014-0207344 and/or US-2011-0043633, and/or U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/832,802, filed Dec. 6, 2017 (Attorney Docket MAG04 P-3190),which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The vehicle may have a plurality of cameras, such as having two forwardvision cameras comprising a stereo vision system or four surround viewvision cameras disposed at the front, rear and the sides of the vehicle,or such as having a camera array disposed around the vehicle andcomprising a Stanford light field vision system that may have an imageprocessing system (hardware with processor, memory and optionally FPGAs,DSPs and/or ASICs) capable to process the environmental scene andprovide object detection and optionally the vehicle ego motion (relativeto the scene) by algorithms processing the image data captured by one ormore or all of the vehicle exterior viewing cameras, and optionallyotherwise attached or otherwise connected cameras such as processingattached aftermarket camera's images, or processing images provided by awirelessly connected smart phone camera which is disposed outwardlywithin or at the ego vehicle. Optionally, the scene and object detectionand the optional ego motion detection algorithm may additionally processor fuse data of additional sensors such as RADAR, LIDAR structured lightor ultrasonic sensors for enhanced detection capabilities andredundancy.

The vehicle has an actuated (automated and propelled) hatch, rear dooror trunk lid, in the following referred as just “actuated hatch”, with acontrol for controlling the actuation (opening and/or closing). Systemsare known for preventing the automated hatch from colliding with outsideobjects in the path of the actuated hatch's sweep, such as described inU.S. Publication No. US-2014-0207344, which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety. The detecting systems and methodsfor detecting collision hazard objects include “Structured light”,“Stereo [disparity”] vision processing and “Structure from Motion” (SfM)processing. The SfM object detection provides for the motion of theactuated hatch that has a (rear) camera itself (such as shown in FIG.2), when actuated or driven manually. The motion of the ego vehicle isassumed as zero since in a parked state. When using the object detectionsystem described in the above referenced U.S. Publication No.US-2014-0207344 when using SfM object detection, the hazard objects canonly be detected after the motion of the hatch (itself) has started andthe hazard object comes into the camera view before the collision.

The multi camera vision system of the present invention may detect the(static) object's or room structure's inner surface (such as in aparking garage structure) that is/are around and above the vehicle andmay store the extensions and positions while the vehicle is being drivenfor use (such as when the vehicle is driven during a parking event suchas when the driver is looking for an available or suitable parkingspace) when the driven vehicle comes to a halt, possibly stopping forparking. Since a vehicle is typically narrowing to the later takenparking spot, the structure around and especially above the vehicle maybe in view at least from a distant view point of the vehicle camera(s)before getting out of the camera's view when the vehicle is drivenunderneath the structure. The system provides a data storing featurethat stores the information or data of the previously detected objectsor structures, and the system may determine where the vehicle is locatedrelative to detected objects and/or structures, and may calculatewhether or not one or more of the structure's surfaces or objects isviolating the potential sweeping space of the actuated hatch whenopening automatically or hand driven. The system of the presentinvention then may warn the driver or take counter measures such asstopping the hand driven or automated actuation at a distance from thehazardous surface or object to avoid collision.

Thus, during the vehicle motion (such as when the vehicle is driven in aparking garage while the driver is looking for a suitable parkingspace), the surround view cameras are scanning the surrounding regionsand generating a 3D environmental model using structure from motion(SfM) technology. 3D point cloud data are stored not just for the frontof the vehicle in forward motion or rear of the vehicle in rear-motion,but 3D point cloud of sufficiently larger areas beyond the vehicle isalso stored. Vehicle odometer and vehicle dynamics can provide/determinethe exact or approximate location of the vehicle (and vehicle hatch)within this 3D point cloud or environmental model or virtual map, whichcan be used to compute the maximum possible opening height of the hatchat any given location that was previously scanned by one or more vehiclecameras or sensors as the vehicle was being driven during the parkingevent.

Optionally, the room's surface map (such as a map of structure of aparking lot or parking garage) may be provided by a remote wirelesslyconnected server, such as a service of a public parking garage forimproving the surface collision hazard calculation, which may be limiteddue to low light or low contrast conditions limited processing power.

The system thus may determine structure or objects via processing ofdata captured by one or more cameras or sensors of the vehicle as thevehicle is being driven, and, responsive to such processing, maydetermine when structure is at or near the vehicle and intruding a sweeppath of a vehicle hatch when the vehicle is parked at a parking space(or otherwise not moving). The system thus provides object or structuredetection while the vehicle is being driven and, based on stored data,can determine if an object or structure is in the path of a door orhatch when the vehicle is parked.

Thus, during a parking event (such as when the vehicle is driven whilethe driver is looking for a parking space), image data is captured byvehicular cameras (and/or other data is sensed and collected by othersensors of the vehicle) and processed to detect objects and/or structureat the parking area (the parking garage or lot or street). The systemmay be actuated at the onset of a parking event, such as via a userinput or upon detection or determination that the vehicle is entering aparking garage or lot or the like (such as via a communication orscanning as the vehicle enters or crosses a threshold of the parkingstructure such as a parking garage or parking lot), whereby the systemprocesses image data captured by the surround view cameras or forwardand/or rearward and/or sideward viewing cameras (and/or data collectedor sensed by other sensors) to determine structure and objects in theparking area. The system generates the virtual map or environmentalmodel or the like based on image data captured during driving andparking of vehicle and not based on image data captured by a camera ator near the vehicle hatch after the vehicle is parked (optionally, thecameras do not capture image data and the processor does not processcaptured image data after the vehicle is parked and during anysubsequent opening or closing of the hatch or door or decklid orliftgate or the like).

The virtual map or environmental model is thus made while the vehicle isstill moving, whereby, after the vehicle is parked in a selected parkingspace, the system determines the location of the vehicle relative topreviously determined structure and can provide an alert to the driveras to an obstruction in the way of the vehicle hatch before the hatch iseven opened or started to open. Thus, the driver, upon receiving analert as the vehicle is parked in a parking space, may move the vehicleforward or otherwise re-position the vehicle to avoid the detectedstructure, without having to get out of the vehicle to see if there isclearance and without having to actuate a hatch release and startmovement of the hatch toward an open position.

Optionally, the system may adjust the position of the hatch to maintainthe gap. For example, the system may, when the hatch is partially openedand near an object above the hatch, and when the vehicle is unloaded sothat the vehicle body raises upward, be operable to adjust or move thehatch to further close the hatch so that the initial gap is generallymaintained between the partially opened hatch and the detected object.The system may include or may be responsive to a camera or image sensoror other sensor at or of the vehicle (such as a camera that is part of avehicle vision system or surround view vision system or the like) thathas a field of view that encompasses the region exterior of the vehiclethat is swept by the hatch when opening/closing, and/or may include ormay be responsive to a camera or image sensor or other sensor at or ofthe vehicle that has a field of view that encompasses the rear storagearea or region of the vehicle.

The system may use a safety remaining distance control to stop the hatchat a distance before contact with the detected or determined object orstructure, and the stopping point (where the system generates a signalto stop the hatch) may have a safety remaining gap or distance or travel(between the hatch and the object) that reflects or accounts for thepotential stopping reaction and additional travel of the hatch after thesignal is generated (such as due to reaction times of the system and themass inertia swinging of the hatch and/or the like). An additional causefor height change reflected in the safety remaining gap or distance maybe that the vehicle suspension springs may lift the vehicle somecentimeters (such as, for example, about 15 cm or thereabouts) or thevehicle may roll or pitch when a heavy load is unloaded from the trunkor rear cargo area or when one or more persons exit the vehicle. Thatsafety distance may be a (eventually opening dependent and or voltagedependent, or hatch propulsion motor speed dependent) parameter set forthe particular power liftgate, hatch, door or lid application.

Optionally, as another aspect of the invention, the vehicle hatch,liftgate door or trunk lid collision avoidance system may also work whennot being adjusted by the power actuators, and when the hatch, door orlid is being opened/closed manually by a user of the vehicle. The systemmay still detect objects in the path of travel of the power hatch. Theactuators may be dynamically controlled (such as via counter actuationor braking) against the manual adjustment direction to actively avoid athreatened contact or collision with an object. Optionally, the systemmay first act comparably vigorously or aggressively to bring theadjustment to a stop, but then may then substantially reduce theresistance to allow the user/driver to draw the hatch closer to theobject when the user still pushes the lid or door or hatch towards theobject and overcomes the initial aggressive counter actuation.

In automotive driver assistance systems, object detection (OD) systemsand algorithms may be used, such as described in InternationalPublication Nos. WO 2013/081984 and/or WO 2013/081985, and/or U.S.Publication No. US-2015-0175072, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties. These are mainly based on back projectionand/or structure from motion using mono (rear) cameras. Optionally, adistance estimation or determination may be provided via one or morevehicle sensors, such as via stereovision sensors, motionparallax/structure from motion (motion disparity) by mono cameras, aLIDAR sensor, a RADAR sensor, a time of flight (TOF) sensor, a photonicmixer device (PMD), and/or a structured light sensor, such as byutilizing aspects of the systems described in International PublicationNo. WO 2013/109869, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference inits entirety, and/or the like.

Thus, the present invention provides a vision system that, utilizing oneor more cameras, provides a feature detection algorithm (that mayutilize disparity mapping or the like, such as by utilizing aspects ofthe cameras and systems described in International Publication Nos. WO2013/081984 and/or WO 2013/081985, which are hereby incorporated hereinby reference in their entireties) or a combination of various detectionalgorithms and the like. Such feature detection may be used fordiscrimination of objects or structure (such as learned or critical orpotentially hazardous objects or the like) in the vicinity of thevehicle. The known (learned) critical areas with the accordingenvironmental features may be stored in a local or remote database. Suchdata storage may be done in combination to stored hatch opening limitsstored by the user in previous uses of the hatch at specific locations(such as, for example, the users home parking garage, the users workplace parking garage, a general/specific parking location or space,and/or the local airport's parking garage and/or the like).

The system includes an image processor operable to process image datacaptured by the camera or cameras, such as for detecting objects orother vehicles or pedestrians or the like in the field of view of one ormore of the cameras. For example, the image processor may comprise animage processing chip selected from the EyeQ family of image processingchips available from Mobileye Vision Technologies Ltd. of Jerusalem,Israel, and may include object detection software (such as the typesdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,855,755; 7,720,580 and/or 7,038,577, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties), andmay analyze image data to detect vehicles and/or other objects.Responsive to such image processing, and when an object or other vehicleis detected, the system may generate an alert to the driver of thevehicle and/or may generate an overlay at the displayed image tohighlight or enhance display of the detected object or vehicle, in orderto enhance the driver's awareness of the detected object or vehicle orhazardous condition during a driving maneuver of the equipped vehicle.

The vehicle may include any type of sensor or sensors, such as imagingsensors or radar sensors or lidar sensors or ladar sensors or ultrasonicsensors or the like. The imaging sensor or camera may capture image datafor image processing and may comprise any suitable camera or sensingdevice, such as, for example, a two dimensional array of a plurality ofphotosensor elements arranged in at least 640 columns and 480 rows (atleast a 640×480 imaging array, such as a megapixel imaging array or thelike), with a respective lens focusing images onto respective portionsof the array. The photosensor array may comprise a plurality ofphotosensor elements arranged in a photosensor array having rows andcolumns. Preferably, the imaging array has at least 300,000 photosensorelements or pixels, more preferably at least 500,000 photosensorelements or pixels and more preferably at least 1 million photosensorelements or pixels. The imaging array may capture color image data, suchas via spectral filtering at the array, such as via an RGB (red, greenand blue) filter or via a red/red complement filter or such as via anRCC (red, clear, clear) filter or the like. The logic and controlcircuit of the imaging sensor may function in any known manner, and theimage processing and algorithmic processing may comprise any suitablemeans for processing the images and/or image data.

For example, the vision system and/or processing and/or camera and/orcircuitry may utilize aspects described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,233,641;9,146,898; 9,174,574; 9,090,234; 9,077,098; 8,818,042; 8,886,401;9,077,962; 9,068,390; 9,140,789; 9,092,986; 9,205,776; 8,917,169;8,694,224; 7,005,974; 5,760,962; 5,877,897; 5,796,094; 5,949,331;6,222,447; 6,302,545; 6,396,397; 6,498,620; 6,523,964; 6,611,202;6,201,642; 6,690,268; 6,717,610; 6,757,109; 6,802,617; 6,806,452;6,822,563; 6,891,563; 6,946,978; 7,859,565; 5,550,677; 5,670,935;6,636,258; 7,145,519; 7,161,616; 7,230,640; 7,248,283; 7,295,229;7,301,466; 7,592,928; 7,881,496; 7,720,580; 7,038,577; 6,882,287;5,929,786 and/or 5,786,772, and/or U.S. Publication Nos.US-2014-0340510; US-2014-0313339; US-2014-0347486; US-2014-0320658;US-2014-0336876; US-2014-0307095; US-2014-0327774; US-2014-0327772;US-2014-0320636; US-2014-0293057; US-2014-0309884; US-2014-0226012;US-2014-0293042; US-2014-0218535; US-2014-0218535; US-2014-0247354;US-2014-0247355; US-2014-0247352; US-2014-0232869; US-2014-0211009;US-2014-0160276; US-2014-0168437; US-2014-0168415; US-2014-0160291;US-2014-0152825; US-2014-0139676; US-2014-0138140; US-2014-0104426;US-2014-0098229; US-2014-0085472; US-2014-0067206; US-2014-0049646;US-2014-0052340; US-2014-0025240; US-2014-0028852; US-2014-005907;US-2013-0314503; US-2013-0298866; US-2013-0222593; US-2013-0300869;US-2013-0278769; US-2013-0258077; US-2013-0258077; US-2013-0242099;US-2013-0215271; US-2013-0141578 and/or US-2013-0002873, which are allhereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The systemmay communicate with other communication systems via any suitable means,such as by utilizing aspects of the systems described in InternationalPublication Nos. WO 2010/144900; WO 2013/043661 and/or WO 2013/081985,and/or U.S. Pat. No. 9,126,525, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

The system may also communicate with other systems, such as via avehicle-to-vehicle communication system or a vehicle-to-infrastructurecommunication system or the like. Such car2car or vehicle to vehicle(V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (car2X or V2X or V2I or 4G or 5G)technology provides for communication between vehicles and/orinfrastructure based on information provided by one or more vehiclesand/or information provided by a remote server or the like. Such vehiclecommunication systems may utilize aspects of the systems described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,690,268; 6,693,517 and/or 7,580,795, and/or U.S.Publication Nos. US-2014-0375476; US-2014-0218529; US-2013-0222592;US-2012-0218412; US-2012-0062743; US-2015-0251599; US-2015-0158499;US-2015-0124096; US-2015-0352953; US-2016-0036917 and/orUS-2016-0210853, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties.

The system may utilize sensors, such as radar or lidar sensors or thelike. The sensing system may utilize aspects of the systems described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 9,575,160; 8,027,029; 8,013,780; 6,825,455; 7,053,357;7,408,627; 7,405,812; 7,379,163; 7,379,100; 7,375,803; 7,352,454;7,340,077; 7,321,111; 7,310,431; 7,283,213; 7,212,663; 7,203,356;7,176,438; 7,157,685; 6,919,549; 6,906,793; 6,876,775; 6,710,770;6,690,354; 6,678,039; 6,674,895 and/or 6,587,186, and/or InternationalPublication Nos. WO 2018/007995 and/or WO 2011/090484 and/or U.S.Publication Nos. US-2018-0045812; US-2018-0015875; US-2017-0356994;US-2017-0315231; US-2017-0276788; US-2017-0254873; US-2017-0222311and/or US-2010-0245066 and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/897,268, filed Feb. 15, 2018 (Attorney Docket MAG04 P-3267R), whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the vision system may include a display for displayingimages captured by one or more of the imaging sensors for viewing by thedriver of the vehicle while the driver is normally operating thevehicle. Optionally, for example, the vision system may include a videodisplay device, such as by utilizing aspects of the video displaysystems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,530,240; 6,329,925; 7,855,755;7,626,749; 7,581,859; 7,446,650; 7,338,177; 7,274,501; 7,255,451;7,195,381; 7,184,190; 5,668,663; 5,724,187; 6,690,268; 7,370,983;7,329,013; 7,308,341; 7,289,037; 7,249,860; 7,004,593; 4,546,551;5,699,044; 4,953,305; 5,576,687; 5,632,092; 5,708,410; 5,737,226;5,802,727; 5,878,370; 6,087,953; 6,173,501; 6,222,460; 6,513,252 and/or6,642,851, and/or U.S. Publication Nos. US-2014-0022390;US-2012-0162427; US-2006-0050018 and/or US-2006-0061008, which are allhereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the vision system (utilizing the forward viewing camera anda rearward viewing camera and other cameras disposed at the vehicle withexterior fields of view) may be part of or may provide a display of atop-down view or bird's-eye view system of the vehicle or a surroundview at the vehicle, such as by utilizing aspects of the vision systemsdescribed in International Publication Nos. WO 2010/099416; WO2011/028686; WO 2012/075250; WO 2013/019795; WO 2012/075250; WO2012/145822; WO 2013/081985; WO 2013/086249 and/or WO 2013/109869,and/or U.S. Publication No. US-2012-0162427, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Changes and modifications to the specifically described embodiments maybe carried out without departing from the principles of the presentinvention, which is intended to be limited only by the scope of theappended claims as interpreted according to the principles of patentlaw.

1. A vehicle hatch clearance determining system, said vehicle hatchclearance determining system comprising: a plurality of cameras disposedat a vehicle equipped with said vehicle hatch clearance determiningsystem and having respective exterior fields of view exterior of theequipped vehicle, and wherein said plurality of cameras includes atleast a forward viewing camera having a forward field of view forward ofthe equipped vehicle and a rearward viewing camera having a rearwardfield of view rearward of the equipped vehicle; a control having aprocessor for processing image data captured by said cameras; whereinsaid control, during a parking event, and responsive to processing bysaid processor of image data captured by said cameras, determinesstructure and objects present in the fields of view of said camerasduring the parking event; wherein said control, responsive to processingby said processor of image data captured by said cameras during theparking event, stores information pertaining to determined structure andobjects present in the fields of view of said cameras during the parkingevent; wherein, at completion of the parking event, with the equippedvehicle parked at a parking location, said control, responsive toprocessing by said processor of image data captured by said cameras,determines location of the equipped vehicle relative to determinedstructure and objects and determines if stored information includesstructure or an object at or near the parking location and in a regionthat would be swept by a hatch of the vehicle when the hatch is beingopened or closed; and wherein, responsive to determination thatstructure or an object is in the region that would be swept by the hatchat the parking location, said vehicle hatch clearance determining systemone of (i) controls the hatch to avoid impact with the determinedstructure or object and (ii) generates an alert.
 2. The vehicle hatchclearance determining system of claim 1, wherein said processorprocesses image data captured by said cameras during the parking eventto determine structure and objects present in a parking facility whilethe vehicle is being driven in the parking facility while the driver ofthe vehicle is looking for a parking space, and wherein, when theequipped vehicle is parked in a selected parking space, said controldetermines if the stored information includes structure or an object ator near that selected parking space that would be swept by the hatch ofthe vehicle when the hatch is being opened or closed.
 3. The vehiclehatch clearance determining system of claim 1, wherein, responsive todetermination of a potential collision of the hatch with a determinedstructure or object, said vehicle hatch clearance determining system isoperable to generate an audible or visual alert.
 4. The vehicle hatchclearance determining system of claim 3, wherein said vehicle hatchclearance determining system is operable to generate the audible orvisual alert in response to actuation of a powered hatch opening/closingsystem of the equipped vehicle.
 5. The vehicle hatch clearancedetermining system of claim 3, wherein said vehicle hatch clearancedetermining system is operable to stop movement of the hatch when thehatch is at a selected distance to the detected object in the path oftravel.
 6. The vehicle hatch clearance determining system of claim 3,wherein said vehicle hatch clearance determining system is operable togenerate the audible or visual alert in response to a manual opening orclosing of the hatch of the equipped vehicle.
 7. The vehicle hatchclearance determining system of claim 1, wherein said vehicle hatchclearance determining system generates an alert in the equipped vehicleto alert a user that the stored information includes structure or anobject in the region that would be swept by a hatch of the vehicle whenthe hatch is being opened or closed, and wherein the alert is generatedwhen the vehicle is parked at the parking location and before opening ofthe hatch.
 8. The vehicle hatch clearance determining system of claim 1,wherein the hatch comprises one of a liftgate of the equipped vehicle, adeck lid of the equipped vehicle and a rear door of the equippedvehicle.
 9. The vehicle hatch clearance determining system of claim 1,wherein said control, via the stored information, generates anenvironment model of the area along which the vehicle moved during theparking event.
 10. The vehicle hatch clearance determining system ofclaim 1, wherein said processor processes image data captured by saidcameras and said control determines structure and objects present in thefields of view of said cameras responsive to a trigger at the start ofthe parking event.
 11. The vehicle hatch clearance determining system ofclaim 10, wherein the trigger comprises one of (i) a user input and (ii)detection that the vehicle has entered a parking facility.
 12. Thevehicle hatch clearance determining system of claim 1, wherein saidplurality of cameras comprise a driver-side viewing camera having adriver-side field of view sideward of a driver side of the equippedvehicle and a passenger-side viewing camera having a passenger-sidefield of view sideward of a passenger side of the equipped vehicle. 13.The vehicle hatch clearance determining system of claim 1, wherein saidplurality of cameras are part of a surround view system of the equippedvehicle, and wherein said surround view system comprises a displayscreen that displays video images derived from image data captured byeach camera of said plurality of cameras.
 14. A vehicle hatch clearancedetermining system, said vehicle hatch clearance determining systemcomprising: a plurality of cameras disposed at a vehicle equipped withsaid vehicle hatch clearance determining system and having respectiveexterior fields of view exterior of the equipped vehicle; wherein saidplurality of cameras are part of a surround view system of the equippedvehicle, and wherein said surround view system comprises a displayscreen that displays video images derived from image data captured byeach camera of said plurality of cameras; wherein said plurality ofcameras includes at least a forward viewing camera having a forwardfield of view forward of the equipped vehicle, a rearward viewing camerahaving a rearward field of view rearward of the equipped vehicle, adriver-side viewing camera having a driver-side field of view sidewardof a driver side of the equipped vehicle and a passenger-side viewingcamera having a passenger-side field of view sideward of a passengerside of the equipped vehicle; a control having a processor forprocessing image data captured by said cameras; wherein said control,during a parking event, and responsive to processing by said processorof image data captured by said cameras, determines structure and objectspresent in the fields of view of said cameras during the parking event;wherein, at the onset of the parking event, said control is triggered todetermine structure and objects present in the fields of view of saidcameras during the parking event; wherein said control, responsive toprocessing by said processor of image data captured by said camerasduring the parking event, stores information pertaining to determinedstructure and objects present in the fields of view of said cameraduring the parking event; wherein, at completion of the parking event,with the equipped vehicle parked at a parking location, said control,responsive to processing by said processor of image data captured bysaid cameras, determines location of the equipped vehicle relative todetermined structure and objects and determines if stored informationincludes structure or an object at or near the parking location and in aregion that would be swept by a hatch of the vehicle when the hatch isbeing opened or closed; and wherein, responsive to determination thatstructure or an object is in the region that would be swept by the hatchat the parking location, said vehicle hatch clearance determining systemone of (i) controls the hatch to avoid impact with the determinedstructure or object and (ii) generates an alert.
 15. The vehicle hatchclearance determining system of claim 14, wherein said vehicle hatchclearance determining system generates an alert in the equipped vehicleto alert a user that the stored information includes structure or anobject in the region that would be swept by a hatch of the vehicle whenthe hatch is being opened or closed, and wherein the alert is generatedwhen the vehicle is parked at the parking location and before opening ofthe hatch.
 16. The vehicle hatch clearance determining system of claim14, wherein said control is triggered by one of (i) actuation of a userinput at the onset of the parking event and (ii) detection that thevehicle has entered a parking facility.
 17. A vehicle hatch clearancedetermining system, said vehicle hatch clearance determining systemcomprising: a plurality of cameras disposed at a vehicle equipped withsaid vehicle hatch clearance determining system and having respectiveexterior fields of view exterior of the equipped vehicle; wherein saidplurality of cameras are part of a surround view system of the equippedvehicle, and wherein said surround view system comprises a displayscreen that displays video images derived from image data captured byeach camera of said plurality of cameras; a control having a processorfor processing image data captured by said cameras; wherein saidcontrol, during a parking event, and responsive to processing by saidprocessor of image data captured by said cameras, determines structureand objects present in the fields of view of said cameras during theparking event; wherein, at the onset of the parking event, said controlis triggered to determine structure and objects present in the fields ofview of said cameras during the parking event; wherein said control istriggered as the vehicle enters a parking facility; wherein saidcontrol, responsive to processing by said processor of image datacaptured by said cameras during the parking event as the vehicle isbeing driven in the parking facility while the driver of the vehicle islooking for a parking space, generates an environmental model comprisinginformation pertaining to determined structure and objects present inthe fields of view of said cameras during the parking event; wherein, atcompletion of the parking event, with the equipped vehicle parked at aselected parking space, said control, responsive to processing by saidprocessor of image data captured by said cameras, determines location ofthe equipped vehicle relative to information of the generatedenvironmental model and determines if the generated environmental modelincludes information pertaining to determined structure or an object ator near the selected parking space and in a region that would be sweptby a hatch of the vehicle when the hatch is being opened or closed; andwherein, responsive to determination that structure or an object is inthe region that would be swept by the hatch at the selected parkingspace, said vehicle hatch clearance determining system generates analert.
 18. The vehicle hatch clearance determining system of claim 17,wherein said vehicle hatch clearance determining system generates thealert in the equipped vehicle to alert a user that structure or anobject is present in the region that would be swept by the hatch of thevehicle when the hatch is being opened or closed, and wherein the alertis generated when the vehicle is parked in the selected parking spaceand before the user begins to open the hatch.
 19. The vehicle hatchclearance determining system of claim 17, wherein said control istriggered by one of (i) a user input and (ii) detection that the vehiclehas entered the parking facility.
 20. The vehicle hatch clearancedetermining system of claim 17, wherein the environmental model isgenerated at least in part based on a map of structure of the parkingfacility that is wirelessly provided to said control from a remoteserver.